The present invention relates to digital camera technology. More specifically, the prevent invention relates to a method and apparatus of accessing images stored in a storage medium using any computer.
Digital cameras have been gaining wide acceptance among consumers recently. As a result, more and more companies are marketing and selling their own brand of digital cameras. The images captured with a digital camera are generally stored in a non-volatile memory, e.g., flash card. To view and edit these images, the digital camera is generally coupled to a computer having a companion application software suitable for accessing the stored images. The companion software is usually provided to the owner of the digital camera when the camera is purchased, which is installed in the owner's computer.
Without the companion software, the images stored in the flash card can be difficult or impossible to access. In addition, since different manufacturers provide different companion software, which may be incompatible with other companion software, a user may find it inconvenient or impossible to access the images stored in the flash card using another person's computer, e.g., while at a friend's house or on a vacation, that does not have an appropriate companion software.
Therefore, it would be desirable to provide a method for accessing the images stored in the flash card in any computer even those without the companion application software installed therein.